Healing Touch
by sincerelyLen
Summary: It seemed, this time, their roles were reversed. -SasuSaku Month-


**Title:** _Healing Touch_  
><strong>Date:<strong> July 16, 2011  
><strong>Summary: <strong>It seemed their roles were reversed.  
><strong>Pairing:<strong> Sasuke and Sakura  
><strong>Rating:<strong> K  
><strong>Themes:<strong> Romance  
><strong>Prompt:<strong> SasuSaku Month – Week 3: Post-Canon; Day 16: Warmth  
><strong>Medium:<strong> Fanfiction

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><p><em><strong>Healing Touch<strong>_

"Aren't you supposed to be an expert at evasion?"

"Shut up, Sasuke-kun."

Haruno Sakura winced as she gingerly inspected her broken arm, frowning as the white and crimson of visible bone and excess blood met her vision. Her body ached and it took shaky effort for the Medic to bring a green-glowing hand to the injury, withholding a whimper as the bone was set painfully back into place and the skin slowly knit itself back together.

Uchiha Sasuke grunted as he walked away from the entrance of the cave – into their chosen shelter they found themselves in during an unexpected blizzard and after a particularly nasty ambush against a group of rogue shinobi – _brutal_ rogue shinobi. He grunted as he threw several spare logs onto the ground, frowning when the movement caused a pain to shoot through his stomach.

After several hand seals fire streamed steadily from his mouth, lighting the wood and creating a mediocre but efficient fire, providing needed warmth and light.

"Do you think Naruto and Kakashi are all right?" Sakura asked, voice strained as she continued to restore her arm to sufficient working order.

Onyx eyes shifted to regard the entrance of the cave, the view of the forest obscured by the white of harshly falling snow, "…I'm sure they're fine. We'll just have to meet with them at the rendezvous point when the storm settles."

Sakura nodded with understanding, emerald eyes briefly flicking upward from her healing to acknowledge him only to catch sight of his scarlet-drenched front, "You're bleeding!"

Sasuke looked down, frowning to find that even with his dark clothes the blood was clearly prominent on his person, "Hn."

Sakura sighed with exasperation, waving him over once her arm seemed fine – a little bruised but her chakra was far too depleted to have her heal it completely, "Get over here, Sasuke, it could be serious!"

With another grunt, Sasuke reluctantly walked towards her, frowning when his movements caused the pain in his abdomen to return full-force – especially now that adrenaline wasn't numbing the soreness. Carefully, he sat down beside the pink-haired kunoichi, the orange glow of the firelight casting flickering shadows over their slouched figures.

"Do you mind?" Sakura asked as she gestured to his stomach.

Sasuke shrugged, indifferent, "Hn."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura cautiously peeled the bloodied cloth away from Sasuke's stomach, mindful of the tension in his body and the way his hands fisted against his thigh – indicating the pain he was probably feeling. She frowned, finding a deep, horizontal gash across his abdomen, still bleeding and causing Sasuke's breaths to shallow to prevent any further discomfort.

"How did this happen?" Sakura asked as she placed her healing hand to the wound – warm chakra soothing the injury and causing the Uchiha to relax.

Sasuke didn't answer and the Medic raised an amused brow, knowing that her comrade would never admit that he had been too caught off guard to get hurt.

Sakura worked the remainder of her healing in silence, the background sounds of the raging blizzard and cackling fire lulling them into an almost comfortable calm.

After several minutes Sakura drowsily removed her hand as the green chakra around her hand flickered to nothing, her body sagging heavily against Sasuke, "…Should be enough…" She muttered, "…Out of…chakra…"

Sakura's head lolled and Sasuke was quick to catch her back so she wouldn't fall. Unfortunately the contact caused Sakura to moan with pain leaving Sasuke to snatch his hand from her person and find it coated in crimson liquid.

"Idiot," The Uchiha scolded angrily; he gently shifted her body so he could examine her hidden injury, frowning even more to find a diagonal slash across her back, the blood causing her shirt to stick unpleasantly to the damage, "Why didn't you heal this, Sakura?"

"…Didn't…know…" Sakura mumbled against his shoulder, groaning again when he carefully prodded the wound.

"_How_ can you not know that you're hurt?" Sasuke reprimanded as he shrugged out of his coat and placed it on the floor so Sakura could lie atop it.

"…Adrenaline…" She answered, hissing when her movements caused pain to shoot up her spine, "…Too focused on my arm…And your stomach…"

"Tch."

Genius mind already dissecting the situation, Sasuke pulled his coat – and her – closer towards the fire, knowing that the warmth of the flames would at least help with the creeping cold of the blizzard. Tightening his jaw, he situated the Medic onto her stomach and carefully lifted her shirt so her back and injury would be exposed to him.

Again, the movement caused Sakura to breathe in sharply with poorly-suppressed pain, hands weakly rising up to try and swat at him, "Go away, Sasuke."

"We can't ignore this," The Uchiha argued sternly as he reached for her medical bag, rifling through the contents for the ointment he remembered her using during situations like this and gauze to wrap her up in, "It's still bleeding and we can't risk this when it's cold – and getting _colder_."

The injury itself looked painful, the gash was jagged and almost an inch wide and just under a foot long. It was long and deep enough to have cut her binding bandages clean off her body, the cloth frayed and bloodied at her sides. He could see rivulets of blood trickling across her pale skin which provoked him to reach for his own pack, remove an old but clean shirt of his, and press it against the wound to help staunch the blood flow.

"_Sasuke_!" Sakura groaned upon painful, pressured contact, her fists curling as she clenched her jaw, "_Ow_!"

"I'm trying to stop the bleeding," Sasuke stated, almost defensively, glaring down at his hands which were pressing his shirt firmly against her back, "I don't exactly have your perfect chakra control to heal you in seconds."

"…Sometimes I wish you did…" Sakura mumbled into her arm, "Less painful…At least for _me_."

Her soft words made Sasuke realize something. It was true. _Sakura_ was the Medic; _Sakura_ was the one with the duty to heal her comrades. It made sense – for him at least – that while he, Kakashi, and Naruto risked themselves to protect their female comrade, _she_ wouldn't have to suffer any injuries – _she_ would be left unscathed and safe.

But Haruno Sakura was no longer the little girl that always needed protection. While she may have teammates overly defensive of her well-being, she wasn't one to stand idle – she would jump into the fray to save them too – she would jump into the fray to _heal_ them since they could only take so much – and that put her in danger; _that_ put her at risk.

So whenever Sakura _did_ get injured it was always a guilty knowledge among the boys of Team Kakashi. Of course, she could always patch _herself _up, but in a situation like _this_ – tired and chakra depleted. Who was _her_ Medic?

Sakura always had this warmth about her when she healed them – her chakra was soothing and safe – it was so easy for them to forget the pain and discomfort when she took care of them. Naruto never failed to mention it, always praising and preferring her when he needed any remedies. Kakashi and Sasuke chose to go to no one else.

But _Sakura_ was never given that luxury – at least not on field missions when she was the only assigned Medic. So when circumstances like _this_ happened – it made Sasuke realize just how valuable Sakura was to them as a teammate and friend. It made Sasuke realize just how unique Sakura was among her male companions and just how _strong_ she was when she didn't have the same option they had when it came to warm and soothing healing.

"…I think the bleeding's stopped…" Sakura whispered, eyes sleepily trained on the flickering flames a meter away from her.

Tentatively, Sasuke removed his soiled shirt from her back, satisfied to see that her wound had indeed clotted and was no longer flowing blood. He reached for the ointment cream when Sakura's hand caught his wrist, onyx and emerald eyes meeting.

"Not that yet…" She answered his unasked question, "…You need to clean it first. Water and small towel in my bag…"

Sasuke nodded, placing the ointment down and reaching for her bag once again to obtain the mentioned items. He removed a small green towel – probably used for her morning rituals after waking – and a water bottle. With great care, he began to pour the clear liquid over her back and cleanse the scarlet from her skin – the Uchiha couldn't help but watch as Sakura's lean muscles shifted under his ministrations, shoulder blades tightening whenever he neared the injury and relaxing when he moved away.

"…Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

The ex-Avenger paused, his gaze switching to Sakura's face, unsure if he had heard her correctly, the statement being barely more than a whisper. Her eyes were closed and her expression would have been relaxed if her brows hadn't been pinched with obvious pain.

He continued his cleaning, making sure that her skin was unblemished of stray blood, revealing to him the true size and dimensions of her wound, "Hn."

Once cleaned, Sasuke reached for the ointment, removed the cover and took a generous amount to delicately smear across the wound. Again, Sakura's muscles tensed with the unfamiliar sensation but eventually relaxed as the cooling properties of the mixture helped sooth the pain.

"…Much better…" She sighed.

A little unsure of himself – since Sasuke wasn't used to being so gentle – the Uchiha smeared the thick, green substance in a thick coat over the red of her injury.

"…This might scar…" Sasuke muttered.

Sakura shivered and Sasuke inwardly berated himself for forgetting the raging blizzard outside and the cold that was seeping into the cave, even with their burning fire. Picking up his pace, he reached for the roll of gauze and began to wrap it around her lower back and abdomen – unbidden, a blush began to form the higher he went and his pace slowed with uncertainty.

Sakura's hands once more stopped him from continuing and a protest began to fall from his lips when she struggled to sit up and finish the wrapping, freeing Sasuke from an awkward situation.

"It's okay," Sakura assured tiredly, throwing a grateful smile his way as she turned away for modesty's sake.

Sasuke nodded his head – more for himself – before he busied himself with making the fire a little larger so the cave could get a little warmer. When he was finished he turned his head just in time to see Sakura put on a new shirt, which was a little looser than her regular clothes, allowing for freer movement. Reaching for his bag, Sasuke took out his travel blanket and threw it at her, earning a confused look in return.

"Bundle up," He answered gruffly, "This storm's probably going to last another few hours."

She nodded with understanding before placing the wool over her shoulders, absently taking in the familiar scent that was Sasuke and sinking even further into its warmth.

Thankfully, the Medic wasn't too far from the cave wall so she adjusted herself so that she could lean against it, using her travel pack as a cushion against the jagged rock. When Sasuke caught her movements she smiled and patted the spot next to her, watching with amusement as he hesitated before standing and moving towards her, settling down just inches from where she sat.

"I don't bite," Sakura teased as she scooted closer and simultaneously draped the blanket over his shoulders as well, leaning into his arm and feeling relaxed drowsiness kick in once again.

"Hn."

She blinked hazily, staring at the fire before placing a hand atop his raised knee; he turned his head to regard her, "…And…it's okay…if it scars, I mean," She leaned her head against his shoulder in fatigue, "It's a reminder that I not only have those that protect me…but those that can heal me too. Thanks again, Sasuke-kun."

She grasped his hand, reveling in its warmth - remembering its gentleness as he took care of her - and squeezed it in silent gratitude.

Sasuke's expression softened as he gazed down at the young woman beside him, feeling satisfied that he had been able to help her – that even in this role reversal he was still able to protect her, "Hn…Anytime."

Sakura smiled as she finally succumbed to much needed rest because she _knew_, as he kept a firm hold on her hand, that he _meant_ it.

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><p><strong>AN: **...Yeah...So another prompt that is so late in coming! Sorry! Finally got to a working computer! I'm trying to get everything up before the 1st of August! I kind of liked this...I mean, having the role reversal of Sakura being healed instead of her being the healer. Hoped you all liked it too! Please leave some feedback, it helps for the future!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto

**Thank you for Reading and Reviewing! **

**Happy SasuSaku Month!**

**Loves!  
>Len83<strong>


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